With the 22nd pick in the 2026 Upper Deck NHL Draft, The Pittsburgh Penguins have selected forward Liam Ruck of the Medicine Hat Tigers in the Western Hockey League.
BREAKING: The Pittsburgh Penguins take Liam Ruck at #22. pic.twitter.com/SPed7mwhYA
— PuckEmpire (@puckempire) June 27, 2026
After Ryan Lin who was heavily targeted and very liked by Kyle Dubas, Wes Clark and the scouting staff and the Pittsburgh Penguins fell to San Jose who sniped the Penguins and made a trade with the Flyers to get Lin. It must have made Kyle Dubas switch his game-plan because the ruck brothers were making it known they wanted to be a tango and play together as a duo and Dubas still drafted Liam.
Liam Ruck is from Osoyoos, British Columbia and was ranked from the 20's to the late 30's in multiple mock draft rankings. That was mainly the case as his twin brother Markus was also ranked semi close in the late 30's and maybe into the early stages of the second round.
Sharing the draft night excitement 😊 pic.twitter.com/EP7Fj2syAV
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) June 27, 2026
Liam Ruck had an incredible draft year this year with Medicine Hat and finished the draft eligible season with 45G, 59A - 104P in just 68 games played this regular season. Liam made the Eastern Conference Finals and had a somewhat lengthy run in the WHL Playoffs. He was close to point per game as he played 14 games with eight goals and four assists. They were eventually eliminated by Prince Albert in six games that brought his draft eligibility year to a close.
Liam did win the Western Hockey League Championship back in the 2023-24 season with the Tigers.
What to expect out of Liam Ruck's play style.
Strengths:
In terms of Liam's strengths he posses heavy amounts of offensive intelligence, good anticipation, good positioning in the 200 foot game and can be a wizard in his around the net play. His shot easily is one of his noticeable strengths and he can wire the puck at any angle and make something out of nothing. He is a highly skilled goal scoring winger and can be relentless. He has the ability to drive play. He can be a reliable contributor in basically any situation you put Liam Ruck in.
Things to Work on / Improvements needed to make:
His physicality is something that really needs to be improved on as he works his way to the pro's and that will come with throwing more body checks and putting more size on which will see him in the weight room more and more. His defensive engagement can be a worry at times, you can see in his game where he sometimes disengages and does puck watching. That can't happen at the NHL level.
Liam Ruck has so many player comparable's but some of them have very familiar names.
- Mika Zibanejad
- Sam Steel
- Troy Terry
- Sam Reinhart
Kyle Dubas confirmed in his post first round presser that he has every intention on drafting his twin brother Markus Ruck and that would make the Liam pick make more and more sense by the minute. They may trade up to get him or may have been told no one will take him.
This draft marks the fifth straight top pick from the WHL for the Pittsburgh Penguins as Kyle Dubas and Co love the WHL. Ben Kindel is a prime example of that as he came from the Calgary Hitmen.
Liam Ruck is viewed as a safe floor in terms of his risk profile and it can be high reward if the brothers are re-united and Ruck pans out to be a threat and translates his success to not just the professional level but the National Hockey League.
"Ruck is a dual threat forward who thrives in the transition game and can be a massive difference maker when the puck is on his stick. He is a player who will make you pay if you make a mistake". Those words are the exact words I wrote in my draft preview with players that i felt made sense for the Penguins for the first round and it's quite fitting that he is selected by the Penguins.
Liam Ruck is more of a project that will take some time, as he will spend the 2026-27 season back in Medicine Hat, per Kyle Dubas and then make his way in the 2027 season to UND (University of North Dakota) with his twin brother Markus, where they are building a good program there. Penguins prospect Jake Livanavage who was signed late in the regular season this past season came from UND as well.
We now turn to the second round of the where the Penguins have two second round picks (#39 & #54), one of which you would imagine will be used on Markus Ruck if he is available. One third round pick (#86) and one sixth round pick (#170). That very much could change as Kyle Dubas is well known for trying to acquire as many draft picks as possible to further the pipeline.
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